One-Shot Corner
by WildMath55
Summary: This corner will contain stories I've made to commemorate milestones I achieve as FanFiction writer and certain events as well. And for note, stories listed here are connected with the main plot. Also, the M-rating is still vague.


AN : One thousand views… Whoa… I never expect that this day will come… As promised, I'll post a special one-shot to commemorate this. Wondering what it is? Well, just see by yourself. Here we go, the first one-shot. Without further ado!

 **Interlude of Swords and Magic**

 **Clash of Black Swordsman and Ribbon Musketeer**

Early morning at the third day of Perfect Possession Incident

Scarlet Devil Arena, Scarlet Devil Mansion, Gensokyo…

"Heah!" A figure clad in black can be seen here. He is trying to recreate his skills that he once had in a certain virtual world, and managed to get most of it. But he still trying to recreate a certain ultimate skill he once used to beat elite bosses on the same virtual world. "… I need to concentrate. This world is different from Aincrad, and if I didn't recreate that skill soon…" He then swings his swords rapidly in a certain pattern. But it seems that there are few slashes that didn't connect perfectly. "It's still not enough… And speaking about it, I heard a certain new maid already left this place when she is almost killed…"

Just as he is about to resume his skill recreating phase, a bullet suddenly come to his direction. He instinctively moves and _deflected it_. "Still trying to recreate your skills, Kirigaya-san?" As he looks around, he saw a girl holding a musket and ribbon. He instantly knew who that girl is. "Yeah, what brings you here, Tomoe? It's rare to see you here." The girl only smiles as she heard that. She has been in Alice's house for these years, and occasionally comes to the arena. "I think I need to polish my skill. Nothing good would come by lazing around, don't you agree, Kirigaya-san?"

Knowing what the girl actually means, the said black figure, Kirigaya Kazuto, the Black Swordsman, equips his swords, Elucidator and Dark Repulser. "Might as well. Youmu-san has already issued a challenge to me, but I told her to wait until I got my full power. Hope you understand this, Tomoe." He took his usual fighting stance, and the said girl, Mami Tomoe, the Ribbon Musketeer, responds with positioning her muskets.

 _BGM (Sword Art Online OST Volume 1 ~ Confront Battle)_

Both Kazuto and Mami dashes forward. "Tiro Volley!" Surprised by that sudden attack, Kazuto slides to avoid the barrage while parrying Mami's musket swing, avoiding collision between both of them. 'Just as expected from Tomoe... She's very strong when fighting alone. But…' Stopped on kneeling position, Kazuto regains his stance and charges at Mami, actually managed to caught her in surprise. It forces her to kick the boy in the stomach. "Ack!" That kick unbalances Kazuto and stumble him down. Mami then forms a musket with her ribbon. 'Surprise attack… It has been my weakness ever since that time in Mitakihara city… Even though I managed to do it to Kirigaya-san, he is still able to react quickly.' Both of them then stands in their feet shortly afterwards.

"It seems we've been getting used to each other's fighting style. You're still as strong as before, Tomoe." Looking back at how they first meet on aftermath of 'Virtual Graveyard' Incident that happens in Outside World, Kazuto realized that there's still many stronger fighter than him in Gensokyo. And Mami is one of them, since she and her group already have been rescued two years before the said incident. "You too, Kirigaya-san. It's been many years since that time. Shall we resume this?" Kazuto didn't respond, but he speaks instead. "Can we have a short break?" Mami nods, knowing that the boy was practicing when she comes.

Unbeknownst to them, Yuuki Asuna also comes to the arena as well. 'Kirito-kun… I hope you will give it your all here. It must be very painful to you for not being able to recreate Starburst Stream yet, but I know you won't give up only because it. And I'll always support you.' She silently cheers her boyfriend and hopes that he will do his best when the duel resumes.

Before that, let's see Kazuto and Mami's current stats in Gensokyo.

–––

Kirigaya Kazuto (SAO Character)

Title : Dual Black Swordsman

Rank : Extra +

Species : Human

Skills : Expert swordsmanship, expert reconnaissance, advanced battle support

Fighting Style : Aincrad-style dual wielding

Intelligence : MMORPG knowledge and computer tech application

Weakness : None in battle, but he is very emotional outside it (It's listed in wiki and is canon)

Equipment : Elucidator and Dark Repulser

–––

Mami Tomoe (Puella Magi Character)

Title : Veteran Ribbon Musketeer

Rank : Extra +

Species : Human

Skills : Expert musket manipulation, expert ribbon usage, high-precision marksmanship

Fighting Style : Equilibrium gun kata

Intelligence : Mitakihara witches and familiars

Weakness : Can be taken down if not paying attention, or in other words, surprise attack

Equipment : Infinite amount of percussion-lock rifled muskets and Regale ribbon

–––

 _(Music pause)_

"For some reason, it seems very strange. To think I returned to be a human again…" Mami reminds herself about 'Walpurgis Nacht' Incident, where she supposed to be dead, but she is saved by Alice, who changes her to a living doll, and about a year before 'Occult Ball' Incident, she and her group, along with SAO main characters, returned to be humans again, thanks to Yukari's **"Boundary of Humans and Youkai".** "It seems our abilities didn't get affected by that Spell Card. So I think it's safe to assume that Yukari allows us to keep our fighting skills here. And to think it's already three years since that Spell Card invocation… Well, at least I'm sure that this world is real." As he notices that the break is over, Kazuto returns to his fighting stance. "Since this world, Gensokyo, is real, then let's fight with all we got, Tomoe." Mami responds with summoning a mass of muskets on her back. "As you wish, Kirigaya-san."

 _(Music resume)_

Within seconds, Mami shoots her muskets to Kazuto in succession and at rapid speed. The latter, instead of charging recklessly, he dodges all the bullets with inhuman reflex. (Reminds me with a certain gakuran person…) 'Knowing Tomoe, she must've already prepared for close-range combat. Better that than her crossfire!' Reading Kazuto's intention, Mami holds her muskets like a dual wielder, and both of them charges at each other.

 _BGM (Sword Art Online OST Volume 2 ~ Critical Phase)_

Mami swings her musket to Kazuto and executes her musket melee move, Minié Swing. And to Kazuto's surprise, that swing barely reaches him. Feeling that he will get hit if the musket isn't deflected, he swings his Dark Repulser just in time to parry it, since it shots a bullet afterwards. He then tries to slash Mami, but the girl quickly recovers and parrying his attack in return. Both of them are even, and look like they still want to continue the fight.

Kazuto charges forward again. This time, Mami 'connects' her muskets in both hands and pulls the trigger. 'Tiro Doppietta!' Two bullets fired at the same time. Kazuto managed to defend himself by crossing both Elucidator and Dark Repulser in front of him to take the impact of the bullets. Just as the bullets collides with the swords, Mami jumps in midair and summons an arc of muskets in front of her. (Whoa?! An arc?!) Each musket shots a single bullet in sequence, and all of the bullets are targeted to Kazuto. 'Again? Can't be helped, then.' The boy slides to avoid the barrage, and narrowly escapes it. At the same time, Mami summons another arc of muskets as she lands.

"Tiro Volley –Arc–!" Soon after he hears that, Kazuto jumps backwards, and he _barely evades the crossfire_. Then he turns around, and sees Mami dashes to his direction with muskets in both her hands. Preparing for the worst, Kazuto tightens his swords gripping, and in a split second, Mami summons a swarm of muskets and as the first shot fired at him... 'Now!' With unbelievable speed, Kazuto deflects most of the bullets aimed to him, much to Mami and Asuna's surprise. 'Kirito-kun…' Few bullets still managed to graze the boy's clothing, though.

Breathing heavily, Kazuto slowly recovers himself. It seems the move he did earlier drains a huge amount of his stamina. And he saw Mami standing just behind him. She didn't make a move, just standing there. Kazuto didn't let his guard down, and as he fully recovered, Mami strikes with another Minié Swing. This time, he parries the musket with his Dark Repulser, and then swings his Elucidator to disarm the girl. In next few seconds, Kazuto stays on defensive stance as Mami executes her Minié Swings, one after another, and he keeps disarming her to prevent any bullet from being fired.

In a split second, after Kazuto disarms Mami eight times, (That many?!) the latter suddenly fell down. Seeing it as a chance, Kazuto charges to deliver the final blow. But to his surprise, Mami already holds muskets on both her hands. Just before hitting the ground, she shoots. Now it's her turn to be surprised, because Kazuto _tackles himself to avoid being hit by point-blank shot_. 'That was close…' And in return, the boy uses Mami's feet to push himself further in order to gain the needed distance.

As both of them stands up, they are going for the final charge. Again, Kazuto deflects all of the bullets fired from Mami's musket. Soon after they reached melee attack range, both of them stop just before the final strike. Kazuto's Elucidator is just few centimeters away from Mami's right arm, and Mami had her musket aimed at Kazuto. _(Music ends here)_

Silence fills the arena for few seconds. "So it's draw again, Tomoe…" Kazuto sheathes his swords to his back. "It seems that way, Kirigaya-san." Mami tosses her musket down, and it disappears right after hitting the ground. "Good grief, I think I need some mending for this…" Pointing at his clothes, Kazuto slightly complains about how he didn't manage to block all of the bullets fired by Mami on their fight. The latter giggles in response, and as she looks around the arena, she found out that Asuna was watching them the whole time. "Nice fight, Kirito-kun, Mami-san."

"Yuuki-san…" Surprised by her presence, Mami bows deeply to Asuna's direction, Kazuto lets out a small laugh. "Don't be that nervous, Tomoe. Asuna already knows about our frequent duels. By the way Asuna, do you hear the rumor that is spreading around this place?" For a moment, Asuna fell silent, before she replies. "I think the head maid might have a copy of the recent newspaper. I'll try to ask her to lend it to us." Just when she is about to leave, a heavy gust of wind passing through them, and when it's gone, there is a newspaper on the arena ground. "I believe you mean that, Yuuki-san?" Mami points to the newspaper, then without wasting time, they move to the pointed location and read the content.

All of them fall silent, as they looked at the headline.

 **"10th Human Village Guards' Tournament Debuts Showdown"**

…

"Debuts Showdown… Is that the title for the Final Stage of this tournament?" Mami seems quite confused with the content. For note, Kazuto, Asuna, and Mami participated in the 2nd and 3rd edition of Scarlet Devil Tournament. Their achievements there is unknown, but it's safe to say that they are among elite fighters in Gensokyo. "Most likely, Mami-san. And I also didn't expect that another tournament apart from SDM also been held in Gensokyo." Asuna continues reading the content, and at a certain part, she stops. "Kirito-kun, read this part." Kazuto looks at the same part his girlfriend points at, and when he reads it, he froze in place.

"Kirigaya-san?" "Kirito-kun?" Kazuto startled as he hears that, and he saw both Mami and Asuna feels worried. "Sorry about that, I just didn't expect that another outsider apart from us is here." That sudden reply surprises the girls. Kazuto feels uneasy when he sees that, and tries to explain it in easier words. "I mean the tournament champion. We never saw him before, right?"

After the girls calmed down, they nod at the same time. "Indeed. I don't remember seeing him anywhere, Kirito-kun. But I do remember the time when a dog girl wants to have a weapon, and I gave her a rapier blueprint." Asuna answers while looking at the past. And it seems Mami has the same response. "On my case, it would be Sumireko-san. Many people say that she will come back here after that time."

Kazuto fell silent for a moment. From what the girls say, he deduces that this outsider only came to Gensokyo recently, and their memories only entails their meeting with Rozie and Sumireko, which happens at least four years ago. "I see… We better wait for this incident to be resolved, and then we will search for this outsider. It would be unwise for us to recklessly interfere." Mami and Asuna nod, they agree with the boy.

They didn't know that a certain Hourai magician saw all of it from the sky. She flies to her shack near Misty Lake soon afterwards.

'It seems your victory last time managed to catch even their attention, Yasei…'

AN : Well, as you can see here, I'm actually imagining how if Kirigaya Kazuto and Mami Tomoe having a fight between them. For note, I'm not trying to disregard Vaati Star's scenario list on Fugere Illusion : Life in Illusion. I imaginie it would be harsh to make Kazuto and Asuna stays as vampires and Mami stays as living doll. So I made a 'turning point', in which Yukari invokes her **"Boundary of Humans and Youkai"** and returns them to be human again. So, on my point of view, their canonical status must be protected, at least on my stories and one-shots. If you wondering about their Extra + rank, read the story I mention above. Why Kazuto instead Kirito? Gensokyo is seperated from Outside World, and it isn't virtual, so I prefer to use his real name. If you asking about why Mami calls Asuna with 'Yuuki-san' it's her habit. And I haven't referencing Konno Yuuki yet. I think I'm running out of words. Then, see you on Wild Nerd's Strange Life Saga Chapter 9!


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